[108.07] Does the Inner Parsec of NGC 3079 Host a Jet, Wind, or a Starburst?

P.K. Kondratko, L.J. Greenhill, J.M. Moran (CfA)

We present VLBI images of continuum emission in the inner
parsec of the starburst galaxy NGC 3079. At 5, 8, and 15
GHz, we detected three compact features distributed over 2.6
pc along an axis at P.A. 127\circ and confirm a
previously measured growing separation between the
components with a speed 0.13±0.03c. At 5 and 8
GHz we detected a new continuum feature that is
significantly offset from the axis of the putative jet. This
feature is not consistent with the narrowly collimated jet
proposed by previous authors and could be a moving knot in a
wide angle outflow or a radio supernova associated with the
starbust. There is no detectable linear polarization of the
components (with upper limits of 1, 2, and 16 percent at 5,
8, and 15 GHz respectively) that could be used to
distinguish among possible models. However, water maser
emission is distributed irregularly across the roughly 1 pc
region. We have examined a model of the distribution of
maser emission components arising within a thick and
inclined accretion disk.